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MESSAGES BY MUSIC - SENEGAL IN TRANSITION (MESSAGES MUSICAUX - LE SENEGAL EN TRANSFORMATION) # 44

09:00, Friday 19th June, Cinema 3

Director/Anthropologist: Cornelia Strasser
Year of Release: 2013
Duration: 76 mins
Country of Production: Switzerland/Senegal
Location: Senegal
Ethnic Group: Wolof, Peulh, Diola, Mandigo and persons of mixed parentage
Language: French, Wolof, Peulh, Diola, Mandigo, English with English subtitles

The traditional musicians in Senegal were in charge of retaining the history of their ethnic group, alongside with the ways of thinking and behaving. Their aim was to conserve the society. Nowadays the griots lost much of their importance. Their world is vanishing. But not their method. Awadi, one of the first and best known rappers in Western Africa, picked up the method of the griots to launch his message to the people. But unlike the griots, his aim is to change society. Awadi is fighting Pan-Africanism, a movement which can’t be understood without having colonialism and its still lasting after-effects in mind. This film offers an insight into the contemporary Senegalese society, reflecting its ethnic, linguistic, religious and musical diversity.

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